4241 Stories - Mogul Queens

Behind this competitor’s dedication is an even deeper passion. Winter is in her blood, and her earliest connections to skiing were fostered on and off the mountain. “I grew up in the Killington culture, where everyone is really friendly and skis all day,” she says. “Around age two, I’d get tired early. When I was done skiing, my parents would drop me in the arms of friends in the parking lot while they took more laps. In the second grade, I was behind in reading class, so they’d hand me off with a book. Here, your ski family becomes your real family.”

Soar grew up in Somers, Connecticut, and throughout her childhood, her parents swooped her up from school at 3 p.m. each Friday to drive 2.5 hours north to Killington, where skiing was a multigenerational family tradition. Soar’s grandparents were both skiers and bought their first condo at Killington in the mid-1970s; her dad and his siblings grew up skiing there; two of her uncles attended Killington Mountain School (KMS); and in the early ’80s, her grandparents purchased two more condos. Two decades later, in 2000, her parents bought their own condo at the base of the mountain.

At age eight, Soar entered her first-ever bumps contest, the iconic, costumes-welcome Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge (BMMC) that for three decades has ushered in Killington’s close-of-season festivities on Bear Mountain’s Outer Limits. The wide, half-mile-long trail is recognized as one of—if not the—steepest, gnarliest, most expansive mogul run in the East, and Soar calls the BMMC “the biggest amateur moguls event” in existence.

One piece of sage Weinbrecht advice that’s stuck with Soar: Performance under pressure is key, but maintaining longevity as a skier hinges on staying true to your roots—keep it loose. “Donna is great at acknowledging that times have changed since she competed, but that the major themes of skiing are the same: have fun and do it because you enjoy it,” Soar says. “Donna embodies a love for mogul skiing, which I love to embody, too.”

Today, Soar attends New York’s Union College each spring, which is a two-hour drive from Killington, and she switches to taking online classes through the University of Connecticut during the fall. In the winter, she takes a break from virtual coursework, as certain stops along the World Cup circuit, like those in Japan and Kazakhstan, don’t always have stable WiFi. She hopes to be halfway finished with her degree by 2022.

“If I have two years of school done by the time I’m done skiing, that’d be most ideal,” she says. “I’ll be 22 years old, and I’m not sure I’ll want to ski for another four years after those Olympics. If I’m doing well and still enjoying it like I’m doing today, yes. If I’m satisfied and had a good career, and I’m ready to pursue a job and education, I’ll do that.”

What she can count on, though, is the team taper from April to May. Then, bets are on that Soar will be at Killington, taking laps with her 62-year-old parents and dozens of bump gangs, followed by evenings spent in the parking lot. “I can’t put into words how special it is to come back, know everyone, and for them to be super excited for my successes,” Soar says. “But at the same time, they really don’t care. They just want to see me happy.”

When Weinbrecht was a high school senior, KMS dropped its freestyle program due to insurance reasons, she recalls. So she got a USSA license to compete and juggled her race schedule alongside earning a fine arts degree at New Jersey’s Ridgewood School of Art and Design. But the school closed in 1985, which Weinbrecht considers a fateful twist that allowed her to focus on making the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team. In 1987, Weinbrecht made the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team at 23 years old.

“Coming from nothing to something was huge,” she says. “My parents didn’t think that I could make a livelihood being a professional athlete.” But she’d go on to become a three-time Olympian and would win 46 individual World Cup mogul events and seven U.S. National Championship titles. She also became the first woman in the sport of freestyle skiing to earn a contract with a ski-boot manufacturer.

“Outer Limits, and the people I skied with day to day at Killington, made me the skier I was on the Freestyle World Cup circuit,” Weinbrecht says. “Killington has always created strong skiers and is a hotbed for good mogul skiers.”

A hotbed it is. When Weinbrecht was still competing, she returned from tour and remembers spotting Soar as a young kid ripping up the slopes. “Her gravity was low; she had great motor skills, balance on her skis and precision,” Weinbrecht says. “I knew she was going somewhere. I’m really happy for Hannah.”

Soar’s sights are set on qualifying for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where she hopes to stand on the podium like Weinbrecht did seven Winter Games ago. “I try to embody Donna’s free-bump style of the ’80s and ’90s,” Soar says. “I’ll ski at Killington with a blonde ponytail above my head—which is how Donna would and still skis today—and even when I was skiing in Zermatt, Switzerland, someone stopped to tell me, ‘You are just like Donna.’ It’s the biggest compliment.”

— Morgan Tilton
photography by Justin Cash, Dave Young, Courtesy Donna Weinbrecht, Courtesy Hannah Soar

4241 Stories

Table of Contents

The Beast

Quintessential Killington

Call it a Comeback

On September 15, 2022, some of the world’s best mountain bikers will descend on Killington.